101 Divorce Street
by BigMoose01
Summary: After listening in on an argument between Delilah and Doug, Dylan and Dolly believe that the two are getting a divorce, and decide to prepare the other pups for it.


Late one night at 101 Dalmatian Street, Dolly had gotten up in the middle of the night to get a drink of water, when she walked by Doug and Delilah's room and heard them talking with angry tones in their voices.

"I can't believe you would go and do something like that, Doug", Delilah said.

"I'm sorry", Doug said, "I didn't want to tell you because I wasn't sure how you'd react."

Dolly, curious to hear this, quietly crept up to the door and listened in.

"I just don't get why you would even think about doing something like that behind my back", Delilah said.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time", Doug said.

"Well, now we're going to have to pay the price", Delilah said.

Dylan walked by and noticed Dolly.

"Hey, sis", Dylan said, "what are you..."

Dolly quickly put her paw over her stepbrother's mouth.

"Shh", Dolly whispered, "Mom and Dad are fighting."

"What", Dylan asked.

"Yeah", Dolly said, "just listen to them."

Dylan, curious as to why his parents would be fighting, joined Dolly in listening in on what Doug and Delilah were saying.

"Okay, I admit it, I didn't really think it though", Doug said, "but I just couldn't help myself."

"Well, at least I won't have to deal with this", Delilah said, "I'll be leaving in a couple of days."

Dylan and Dolly were both shocked to hear this.

"Sounds like Mom and Dad are getting a divorce", Dolly said.

"This is bad", Dylan said.

Dylan and Dolly rushed away, and Doug and Delilah continued their conversation, which was not at all about what Dylan and Dolly thought it was about.

"I only entered the raffle for the fun of it", Doug said, "how was I supposed to know I'd win the boat?"

"Doug, we don't have anywhere to put it", Delilah said, "and besides, we're not even humans, so we can't operate it."

"Like I said, didn't think it through very well", Doug said.

"Well, as soon as I get back from my business trip with Doctor Dave, we are selling that boat", Delilah said.

"Fine", Doug said.

The next day, while Doug and Delilah were both at work, Dylan, Dolly, and the 97 other pups all had a sibling meeting in the backyard.

"Okay, everyone", Dylan said, "I think we all know why we're here."

"Dylan and I have recently learned that Mom and Dad are getting a divorce", Dolly said.

The other pups were very shocked to hear this.

"Mom and Dad are getting divorced", Dizzy asked.

"That's horrible", Dee Dee said.

Dante rose up from the back of the crowd.

"I knew this would happen", Dante said, "it's the end of our family!"

"Quiet, you", Dylan said.

"What are we going to do to stop this", DJ asked.

"Nothing", Dylan said.

The other pups gasped in horror at this.

"What do you mean...", Destiny asked.

"...we're going to do...", Dallas asked.

"...nothing", Déjà Vu asked.

"Well, it's never a good idea to try and stop or delay a divorce", Dylan said, "if two people are miserable together, then trying to get them to stay together probably isn't such a good idea."

"He's right", Dolly said, "instead, we're going to make this easy for them by working out who gets custody of which pups."

"That's right", Dylan said, "49 of us will go with Mom, and 49 of us will go with Dad."

"But that's only 98 puppies", Dawkins said, "what about the extra one?"

"The extra one is Dorothy", Dylan said, "she's just a baby, so she gets to chose who gets her."

"Hey", Delgado said, "I wanna pick who I go with!"

"Me too", Da Vinci said.

It wasn't long before the puppies were all complaining about this, and Dolly quickly went to put a stop to it.

"Quiet", Dolly shouted.

The puppies all quieted down.

"Thank you", Dolly said.

"Now then, let's begin", Dylan said, "Mom and Dad are each going to want to keep the pups they had before they got together, so let's all make two groups."

Delila's pups, consisting of Dylan, Dawkins, Dizzy, Dee Dee, Diesel, Delgado, Da Vinci, Deepak, and seven others, got in one group, and Doug's pups, consisting of Dolly, Triple D, Dante, DJ, and nine others, got in the other one.

"Now for the 15 pups Mom and Dad had when they got together", Dylan said, "except for Dorothy, because we're letting her choose who she goes with."

"Randomly pick a card from this dog bowl", Dolly said, "if the number on it is even, you're going with Mom, and if the number's odd, you're going with Dad."

The 14 pups picked their cards, and seven of them got with Dylan's group, and the other seven got with Dolly's group.

"And lastly, we have the 54 shelter pups or strays that Mom and Dad adopted", Dylan said.

"You'll all be randomly drawing cards that have colors on them", Dolly said, "if your color's red, yellow, or blue, you're with Mom, and if you're color's purple, green, or orange, you're with Dad."

The 54 pups all picked cards, and Dimitri 2 was very upset to discover that his card was green, while Dimitris 1 and 3 had red and yellow cards."

"No", Dimitri 2 said, "it can't be!"

"What is it", Dylan asked.

"I got a different card than my brothers", Dimitri 2 said.

"Gosh", Dylan said, "that's a shame."

"You can't separate us", Dimitri 1 said.

"We're a trio", Dimitri 3 said.

"I want to switch", Dimitri 2 said.

"I'm sorry", Dylan said, "no take-backs on the cards."

"Yeah", Dolly said, "if we let you switch, we'd have to let everyone else who wants to switch do so, and then there'd be chaos."

Dimitri 2 sighed with sadness.

"Fine", Dimitri 2 said, "just let me have a moment with my bros."

"Certainly", Dylan said.

The three male Dalmatian triplets got together in a group hug.

"I sure am going to miss you guys", Dimitri 2 said.

"Yeah", Dimitri 1 said, "we had a nice run."

"No matter what happens, we'll still be triplets", Dimitri 3 said.

Dimitris 1 and 3 and the 25 other pups who got primary colors got together with Dylan's group, and Dimitri 2 and the 26 other pups who got secondary colors got together with Dolly's group.

"There we go", Dylan said, "that's almost all of us decided."

Then, they heard Doug's voice.

"Puppies, I'm ho-ome", Doug called out.

"And just in time", Dolly said, "Mom and Dad are back."

The pups rushed over to the two, and Doug was bombarded by hugs from a bunch of them, as usual.

"I'm glad to see you all, too", Doug said.

While some of the pups left the hug, others, who were in the group for Delilah, didn't let go.

"Wow", Doug said, "these puppies must be really happy to see me."

Doug had to pry them off, and Dorothy walked over to Delilah.

"Aww", Delilah said, "come here, Dorothy."

Delilah picked up Dorothy, and Dylan and Dolly watched.

"Looks like Dorothy's going with Mom", Dolly said.

"Sure does", Dylan said.

"Well, I guess we'd all better make the most of our remaining time together", Dolly said.

"I couldn't agree more", Dylan said.

All 99 pups spent the day playing together outside, and Doug and Delilah were happy to see this.

"I've never seen our pups spending time together and being so happy about this", Delilah said.

"Yeah", Doug said, "they're acting like they'll never see each other again after today."

The next morning, the pups were all in the attic saying their final goodbyes, and Dylan and Dolly were finding it very hard to do so.

"Well, I guess this is it", Dolly said.

"We've had our differences from time to time", Dylan said, "but you're still the best stepsister a pup could ask for."

"And you're the best stepbrother", Dolly said.

The two shared a hug, and tears came from their eyes.

"I'm going to miss you, bro", Dolly said.

"Me too", Dylan said, "it won't be the same without you."

Downstairs, Delilah had her bag ready.

"Doctor Dave will be here any minute", Doug said, "are you ready?"

"Yes I am", Delilah said.

Then, they heard the sound of someone blowing their nose into a tissue, and noticed Dolly at the top of the stairs with the other pups who were with Doug.

"Goodbye, Mom", Dolly said, "we're all going to miss you."

"Um, okay", Delilah said.

Then, Dylan and the other pups who were with Delilah joined her.

"Well, Mom", Dylan said, "we're ready to go."

"What", Delilah asked.

"With you", Dylan said, "Dolly and I organized which pups are going with you, and which pups are staying with Dad."

"I'm not bringing any of you with me to South America", Delilah said.

Dylan, Dolly, and the other pups gasped at this.

"Not even your biological children", Dylan asked.

"No", Delilah said.

"It's bad enough you don't want to be with Dad anymore, but now you don't want custody of any of your children", Dolly asked, "how do you sleep at night?"

"What are you talking about", Delilah asked.

"Dolly and I overheard everything a few nights ago", Dylan said, "you and Dad are getting a divorce because he did something behind your back."

Delilah and Doug looked at each other and realized what was going on.

"Kids", Delilah said, "we're not getting a divorce."

"Your mother was mad at me because I entered a raffle and won a boat, which we cannot operate or store anywhere", Doug said.

The pups all let out an "oh".

"Well, where's Mom going, then", Dylan asked.

"On a business trip to South America", Delilah said.

The pups all let out another "oh".

"Kids, just because we get into one argument doesn't mean that we're going to stop being a family", Delilah said.

"That's right", Doug said, "we love each other and all of you very much, and we wouldn't trade it for the world."

"Really", Dolly asked.

"Yes", Delilah said, "and we hope you two have learned something from all this."

"We have", Dylan said, "we should never eavesdrop on other peoples' conversations."

"And we should never jump to conclusions, either", Dolly said.

Then, they heard a car horn.

"Well, the cab's here", Delilah said, "I've got to go."

All the pups gave Delilah a big hug.

"I'll be back in a few days", Delilah said.

Everyone waved goodbye as Delilah got in the cab and went off with Doctor Dave, and afterwards, the pups all expressed their happiness of staying together.

"Man", Dylan said, "we sure were silly to think Mom and Dad were getting a divorce."

"You said it", Dolly said, "I just can't bear the thought of all 101 of us being separated."

"Me neither", Dylan said.

And with that, the 99 pups all enjoyed each other's company, happy to be all together as a family.


End file.
